Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-17


3. The teachers and professors o
the common schools, the public school!
and the colleges and universities.
4. The members of all temperance so
cieties who advocate the abolition of the
making and vending of ardent spirits as
beverage.
5. All men who conscientiOusly beiievt
that the liquor traffic is an unmtXed eyi
and injurious to society and good gov.
eminent.
6. The patriotic, ardent lover of civi
liberty restrained by law, who cannot bt
driven from his convictions Of truth ant
right by the party whip ia hand:
held up by money and saloon rowdies.
:. The educated and trained think, rs II
the science of government who favOi
progress and reform.
s. All who believe that the liquor trail
fC breeds vice, sows the seeds Of cor
ruptiOn and death, ruins the lives anC
fortunes of men, c0rrupts the ballot, har-
bors thieves and murderers, is in league
with gamblers and gaming, associates witt
prostitution, plots against the good of so
ciety, feeds upon the earnings of the poor
without compensation, is a standing
menace to lew, and proposes to trampIt
under foot virtue, religion, Justice and
honest government.
VINO are standing in the line, battling
against the amendment?
l. The manufacturers Of liquors, such
as brewers, distillers and rectitiaTs.
,. Liquor dealers, wholesale and re-
tail, and salOOn-zeepers of every shade
and kind.
3. The pOt-house politician, the wide
mOuthed political hummer, who becomes
the willing agent to buy votes and stuff
! the ballot box.
1. Those engaged IN crime and the eva
! sion Of law, such as burglars, thieves,
cracksmen, ''thugs," prize fighters, stool
pigeons, prostitutes, 'fakirs," dead
beats and trampS. All those who are en-
gagged in games of chance and in defeat
ing the demands of justice and wringing
an ilIegitimate living from innocent peO-
pie.
;. All who visit the liquor dives for
pleasure, who resort to dens of vice for
social ruin, who earn money or steal
money aud spend it for drink, who neg
leCt their highest duties to flmiIy,
country and God, and bow down as
slaves to drinking and carousing in
haunts of vice and misery.
6. All renegade preachers who drink
behind the sCreen-preaCh one doc
trjne and practice another.
I. The professional oflice-seeker, who
cares more for votes than principle, and
who trades with the saloon men for heIpC
With the promise to pay iupsotecting
their interests.
s. "Au respectable modern drinkers"
who lounge at saloons and abuse cOrp0r-
atiOns, mOnOpOlieS, ''blOated bOndhold-
ers," and negroes who Will not work.
9. And, lastly, large number of good
and respectable people representing
neSrIy every trade and profession
and grade in society. These con-
stitute the center and nucleus
around which the others revoIve and |
point to with pride as being son oUrI
side" This class OF gentlemen will not |
argue the question Of the evil and Grim I
nal effects Of the liquor traffic; they adj !
NIT that it is bad, much abused and /
growing worse. But they have fears of |
the enCrOaChment of this reform, that it !
will hereafter make more eXhOrbitant de- |
the abolition Of the liquor |
traffic will lead TO the abolition of tobacco /
and other luXuries now enjoyed, and thus, /
one by one, take away our personal Hber- /
ties; that the law, if adopted, cannot bel
the Democratic party and lead the couR- T
try to ruin.
In this classification it is not my pur-
pose to do injustice to any, and there may
be (and hope are) honorable exceptions
that may not fall within any class named. /
And if any one feels that he is improperly
classed he has my permission to draw
out of that class aud choose one to
ais liking. But if the division is
reasonably correct, then which side is
more nearly, in the interest Of
virtue, social reform and better govern
nent? And which side presents TIE
greatest number of honest, correct patri-
Die workers for the suppression of this
great evil? In truth, VIII you find the
ievotees of liquor and its attendant
7iCes and influences for the prohibition
O..
Again, there is another viewfhat may {
)e taken of the liquor traffic, drawn from
political economy, that viii show it to !
)e a consuming evil in society, indepeu- /
lent OF the vices and crimes it Creates {
class Of people vino are n6n-pro- &
ulcers, but consumers, must necessarily
,roYe financial burden to the state. l
rhe people confined in our almshOuses,
common jails, peniteDtiarIes and asylums I
all within this Class-at least those who !
:annot be made to earn a living. Appro- 6
,riatiOns must be made aud these people :
ed and maintained at the public expense. s
Now, the liquor traffic is immense. II t
5 claimed that nearly ope-twentieth of 6
he population of the United States sell {
liquor in some form; that is, about C
,000 900 people are non producers. The I
alpS of liCuOr -viel6 sODuaIIv shOur r
500, 600, Geo. Three million liquor deal '
rs sell $500, 900, 900 to the people. What f
o the people receive tor this fabulous =
um? What do these 5000, 900 men pro- I
uCe? They are strictly middle men, '
reducing nothing, reapfng immense t
rOhts from the sale of this stuff In V
Oxicating liquor possesses no valuable n
uslity as food. 1t is not Cheat pro- I
ucer but heat reducer." The seller ?
ives nothing valuable in return for the I
copies money. As non-producers, and I
FINISHING nothing of value for their own 5
Import, they become consumers of the 4
roducts of the labor Of others, and are, n
lerefore, a burden upon the people who c
az this enormous sum annually. The a
eople, in fact, pay Of their earnings to L
lppOrt these 100000 saloon keepers, f
800 to each Of them per annum to keep t.
lem in business. But few people realize S
ow grinding and exactiug this business is b
pom the labor and hard earnings of b
lie masses of the people, The labor RI
examinations OF the land find in the v
quor traffic the most deadly foe to their 81
ghest interests. Those organizations Il
-e not alone devoted to protecting a
ages, but most of their funds are paid fC
%O no nd =.